Genetic Enhancement Studied

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Those are just some of the ways athletes may be able to turn discoveries in gene therapy into an advantage on the playing field.

Trying to get a jump on the next wave of cheating in sports, Olympic officials met with scientists to study genetic enhancement of athletic performance.

"Their possible misuse raises questions that society must address," Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said Wednesday.

The three-day conference brought together more than 30 experts in biology, genetics and sports medicine with policy makers, legal experts and athletes to explore the issues facing sports concerning gene transfers.

"Gene therapy has enormous potential to revolutionize medicine's approach to curing disease and improving the quality of life," Pound said. "Unfortunately, this same technology, like many others, can be abused to enhance athletic performance. … The same kinds of people who cheat in sport today will probably try to find ways to misuse genetics tomorrow.

"We've had a lengthy catch-up with respect to doping. With genetics … we're taking the initiative."

Though many of the most worrisome genetic therapies facing sports are still in the experimental stage and may be at least five years away from being used, WADA is seeking to forge a consensus with scientists, governments and sports officials about how to deal with potentially huge problems.

"The time is right for the sport and science communities to begin working out how to prevent the possible misuse of these methods in the future," said Dr. Theodore Friedman, professor of pediatrics at the University of California-San Diego's Center for Molecular Genetics.

The issue involves ethical concerns at least as much as it does scientific ones, Friedman said.

When, for example, does therapy for an injury or illness cross over to performance enhancement? What constitutes misuse? What codes of conduct should guide researchers and doctors? How can rules against genetic enhancement be enforced?

The "grave new world," as Dr. Gary I. Wadler of the New York University School of Medicine termed the promises and perils of gene therapy, might include such fantasies as "designer babies" programmed genetically to become potentially great athletes.

That could be decades away. The more immediate problems are genes that can release human growth hormone to build muscles or genes that help muscles use oxygen more efficiently for endurance. On the horizon are genes that may improve the calcium channels in muscles to make them more responsive, others that can strengthen bones, and still others that can reduce or shut down the response to pain.

All those gene therapies hold enormous potential for treating people with illnesses like muscular dystrophy or with crippling injuries. But they also hold the possibility of being misused by athletes looking for an edge.

"We are on the brink of an explosion in technologies, of which genetic transfer technology is just one," Wadler said. "The potential for abuse for athletic purposes is increased as these come aboard. The question about designer babies … right now that's a little bit of fairy tale thinking. But the potential exists over the next 25 years for the real perversion of enormous advances in technology."

Pound said that genetic research is growing so fast that WADA is considering sponsoring similar meetings at least once a year. WADA also will sponsor more research grants into detection of genetic transfers, and work with governments to increase their awareness and funding of the efforts.

"This adds to the public debate," Wadler said. "We have to take it from the realm of fantasy to the realm of reality. In the world of doping, it's been a reactive process over the years _ catch-up, catch-up, catch-up. We're talking 5-to-10 years ahead of what we think might be out there, and getting people on the same page addressing it. In the world of doping, what has happened here is absolutely revolutionary."